Robert “The Ghost” Guerrero, 17-1-1 (9), returns to the ring this Friday night June 23rd 11 PM ET/PT on ShoBox: The New Generation in an exciting rematch against the only man to blemish the young star’s record, the rough and tough Mexican fighter Gamaliel Diaz, 20-5-2 (9). The two combatants will face off in a scheduled twelve round WBC featherweight elimination bout, and in the process Guerrero looks to avenge his only loss thus far and gain back the NABF featherweight strap he lost just a little over six months ago.

The California native was devouring the competition in his quest for the top putting on exciting show-stopping performances before running into the roadblock known as Diaz last December in Lemoore, CA, losing out in a shocking twelve round split decision, a bout that Guerrero felt was an off night.

“I was off on every punch that night,” said Guerrero. “I was too relaxed in just sitting back countering and didn’t get anything going until the last half of the fight.”

His trainer John Bray felt the same way about Guerrero’s throw down against Diaz.

“It was an off night for Robert. He wasn’t focused, and I feel that I didn’t give him the right game plan, we win as a team and we lose as a team,” Bray stated to the Doghouse.

It was a close upsetting loss for the twenty-three year old southpaw, but a loss that has helped Guerrero get back on track.

“The loss to Diaz is basically fueling the fire, it gets me up to train harder, to do the extra push-ups and sits-ups, to do the extra rounds, it is my drive to work harder than ever,” explained Guerrero.

And in this go around Robert plans on bringing back the Ghost of old.

“The fight fans can expect the ‘real’ Ghost Guerrero, a much more aggressive Guerrero, utilizing body shots, setting the pace and throwing punches in bunches, bringing the fight in every round,” stated a confident Guerrero.

Guerrero was on a fast-paced highway to the top defeating all in his pathway, except for a short fought technical draw in March of ’03 against Julian Rodriguez. Guerrero razzled and dazzled the fight fans with his action-packed beat downs of foes such as Enrique Sanchez, where Robert stopped the savvy vet in eight rounds in June of ’04. Guerrero earned the NABF featherweight title when he destroyed Cesar Figuero in four rounds in December of ’04, and the young star tallied up a sensational twelfth round knock out over Adrian Valdez defending his NABF hardware before dropping his first fight to Diaz. But the devoted Christian doesn’t look at the loss to Diaz as a bad circumstance, but more of a Divine Intervention.

“I honestly feel that I lost to Diaz because God put the brakes on,” said Guerrero. “He had a different road for me to take, a different plan, everything was just going too fast and I wasn’t ready. All I can say is that God is great!”

But what about now?

“I feel it is time,” said Guerrero. “God is the master planner, I mean just think about this, I am recently coming off a loss against Diaz, and now I am getting back in there with him. You just don’t get rematches like that, not that fast anyway, it is the rematch and I am ready. I fought a whole different fight in the last fight, just expect the ‘real’ Guerrero.”

This rematch against Diaz is a shot at redemption for Guerrero, a chance to overcome the L and step forward to winning a world title. In the mind of his trainer John Bray this fight is a defining moment in his pupil’s career, but a fight that will be about more than revenge.

“You know what is sweeter than victory, that’s redemption,” said Bray, and that is what Team Guerrero is planning on, a defining win. This anticipated rematch can be summed up with a closing statement from Guerrero’s trainer John Bray, “The last fight was a boxing match, this time it will be war, and we are going to win!”

I would like to thank Mario Serrano for setting up this interview, and a special thanks goes out to Robert Guerrero and John Bray for their time and thoughts, as always guys it is greatly appreciated.